ABSTRACT

Background: the physicians have observed a temporal relation

between the occurrence of female-specific reproductive events and
the symptoms of illness that traditionally have been classified as
"mental“

Objectives: study of phenomenology of postpartum psychosis.

Methods: 60 female patients with postpartum psychosis (group of

patients) and 30 female patients without psychiatric disorders (control
group). The subjected to clinical psychiatric assessment using
structured psychiatric interview of DSM -V, BPRS, HDRS and EPDS
 ABSTRACT

Results: Postpartum psychosis was

more in younger females than older
and in primipara than multipara.

Conclusion: postpartum psychosis is

more common in younger and
primipara females with onset of
symptoms in first in first week after
delivery.
 INTRODUCTION
• psychiatric disorders occurred during maternity
leave still occupies a territory and a period of
time unrecognized in their entirety mean some,
others controversial, the plan nosologic,
etiopathogenetic and psychopathology
• Postpartum psychosis occurs in 1 to 2 of every
1000 new mothers. If undetected and untreated,
postpartum psychosis presents a danger to both
the life of the mother and her infant.
AIM OF THIS WORK
• Study of phenomenology of postpartum psychosis within
four weeks after delivery for an early diagnosis of this
disorder.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

• This study was carried in clinic of Neuropsychiatry
Department, Gynecological and Obstetric Department of
Aswan University Hospital from January 2016 to January
2017.
• This study was women in the postpartum period within
four weeks after giving birth with ages ranging from 16
years to 32 years.
 Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics

Board of Aswan University and an
informed written consent was taken from
each participant in the study.
Group I (Patients group): Included 60 females with first-
onset psychiatric illness developed in the first four weeks
after delivery.

Exclusion criteria: Patients with established neurological

disorders and severe physical illness, patients with past
history of reported psychiatric illness, patients on
hormonal preparations for endocrinal disturbance or any
causes, patients with chronic medical illness as renal or
hepatic illness, and patients with history of head trauma
and epilepsy.
Group II (Control group): Included 30 females in the
first four weeks after delivery.

Exclusion criteria: Females suffering from any

psychiatric illness in addition to the same exclusion
criteria in group I. Approval of the Ethical
Committee and consent of the patients were taken.
The two 1. Clinical study: Thorough clinical
groups psychiatric examination and clinical
were assessment by structured psychiatric
subjected interview of DSM V
to:

2. Psychometric Assessment included

Hamilton Rating Scale for depression
(HAM-D OR HDRS), Brief Psychiatric Rating
Scale (BPRS) Expanded Version and
Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Statistics: Unpaired Student T test was
used to compare between two groups
in quantitative data and chi-square
was used to compare qualitative data.
RESULTS
The mean day of onset of postpartum psychosis was 6.11
days ± - SD ±1.62 and the prevalence of mood congruent
psychotic symptoms (58.3%) was higher than the mood
incongruent psychotic symptoms (41.7%).

Early symptoms of postpartum psychosis in patients group

were sleep disturbance (66.7%), irritability (65% ) and
hypomanic symptoms (56.7%) were the most early
symptoms of postpartum psychosis followed by anxiety
(58.3%), confusion (33.33%) and somatic complain(30%).
Postpartum psychosis with manic psychotic feature
was in 58.3% of patients, followed by postpartum
psychosis with depressive psychotic feature in
16.7% of patients, followed by postpartum
psychosis with depressive and manic feature in
13.3% of patients and postpartum psychosis with
only psychotic feature in 11.7% of patients.
There were higher significant difference regarding
the mean score of Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale
(BPRS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS),
and Edberg Postnatal Depression Sale (EPDS)
between patients and controls (Table 3).